Dr. Steven E. Kopits, an orthopedic surgeon who was nationally recognized for his work with dwarfism, died yesterday of a brain tumor at Union Memorial Hospital. He was 65 and lived in Homeland. As founder and director of the International Center for Skeletal Dysplasia at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson, he was credited with surgeries that permitted his patients to walk and live on their own. Dr. Kopits was born in Budapest, Hungary, where his father and grandfather had been orthopedic surgeons.

Chandler Crews sat on a bench outside of Sinai Hospital in Baltimore one recent day, put her feet on the ground and grinned. Sitting this way was impossible for the 20-year-old from Arkansas just a few years ago because she was born with achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism in which limbs don't grow in proportion with the torso. With bowed legs and a 3-foot-10-inch stature, she said she was unable to do many such "normal" things. She couldn't drive the family car or go for much of a walk without back and joint pain or even wash her hands in most sinks.

Brigitta and Edina Hagymasi were enjoying a normal childhood of playing with dolls, going to school and helping with household chores.But their future looked grim. Born with a rare form of dwarfism seven years ago, the sisters had to move more slowly than their triplet brother, who was not born with the genetic defect. The girls had begun to feel pain when climbing stairs or running.By adolescence, Brigitta and Edina would have needed assistance to walk. As adults, they faced life in wheelchairs.

Dr. Josette W. Bianchine, a retired Johns Hopkins pediatrician who worked in genetics, died of congestive heart failure June 6 at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda. She was 79. Born Josette Woel in Gonaive, Haiti, she studied at l'Ecole LaLue and came to the United States on a scholarship to the University of Illinois at Urbana, where she earned a biology degree. She was a 1958 graduate of State University of New York Upstate Medical University at Syracuse. She did an internship and residency in pediatrics and then served as chief resident at the Harriet Lane program at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

When others said no, he pressed on. When others closed doors, he pushed forward. When they told him he'd never realize his dream of becoming a surgeon, he proved them wrong. "They told me I couldn't do it because of my size: `Patients won't respect you and you couldn't do it physically,'" recalled Dr. Michael C. Ain, who at 4 feet 3 inches tall is believed to be the only little person to become a surgeon. "Needless to say, I challenged them on both." More than 500 graduates at Villa Julie College in Stevenson listened intently at the 55th commencement yesterday as Ain recalled receiving dozens of rejections - an estimated 60 - from medical schools across the country.

William Harold Eberhardt, 76, a percussionist who toured with George Gershwin and played marimba at Radio City Music Hall, died Saturday after falling three stories from his apartment balcony in Parkersburg, W. Va. Mr. Eberhardt, who also worked with Leonard Bernstein, was a percussionist for several long-running Broadway shows, including "The Innocents" and "The Boyfriend."John J. Wasmuth, 49, a biochemist who helped discover the genes that cause dwarfism and other diseases, died Friday in Irvine, Calif.

TOM CUSH, 10, son of Thomas and Elizabeth Cush of Chartridge, won a gold medal and two silver medals in swimming competition at the Dwarf Athletic Association of America games this month in Los Angeles.The soccer team his father coaches won a silver medal at the games, part of the annual conference of the Little People of America (LPA).Tom's gold medal came in the butterfly races and his silver medals in freestyle and backstroke.The Cushes joined LPA shortly after Tom was born with achondroplasia, or dwarfism, in Alexandria Hospital in Virginia.

Dr. Josette W. Bianchine, a retired Johns Hopkins pediatrician who worked in genetics, died of congestive heart failure June 6 at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda. She was 79. Born Josette Woel in Gonaive, Haiti, she studied at l'Ecole LaLue and came to the United States on a scholarship to the University of Illinois at Urbana, where she earned a biology degree. She was a 1958 graduate of State University of New York Upstate Medical University at Syracuse. She did an internship and residency in pediatrics and then served as chief resident at the Harriet Lane program at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Biotechnology giant Genentech Inc. has agreed to pay $50 million to settle a criminal lawsuit which alleged that it marketed a human growth hormone for unapproved uses during the 1980s and early 1990s.The criminal fine and restitution is one of the largest settlements in U.S. drug industry history and ends a Department of Justice investigation that began in 1995."We chose to settle the matter in order to avoid the cost and distraction of protracted litigation," Genentech Chief Executive Officer Arthur Levinson said in a statement.

Chandler Crews sat on a bench outside of Sinai Hospital in Baltimore one recent day, put her feet on the ground and grinned. Sitting this way was impossible for the 20-year-old from Arkansas just a few years ago because she was born with achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism in which limbs don't grow in proportion with the torso. With bowed legs and a 3-foot-10-inch stature, she said she was unable to do many such "normal" things. She couldn't drive the family car or go for much of a walk without back and joint pain or even wash her hands in most sinks.

When others said no, he pressed on. When others closed doors, he pushed forward. When they told him he'd never realize his dream of becoming a surgeon, he proved them wrong. "They told me I couldn't do it because of my size: `Patients won't respect you and you couldn't do it physically,'" recalled Dr. Michael C. Ain, who at 4 feet 3 inches tall is believed to be the only little person to become a surgeon. "Needless to say, I challenged them on both." More than 500 graduates at Villa Julie College in Stevenson listened intently at the 55th commencement yesterday as Ain recalled receiving dozens of rejections - an estimated 60 - from medical schools across the country.

Dominic "Yama" DiFelice started playing bocce because at 25 cents a game, bowling was too expensive. The 86-year-old Philadelphia native became one of the world's best bocce players, with so many championship titles and awards that one year he gave one of his trophies to every player at Baltimore's annual Wheelchair/Stand-up Bocce Tournament. Yesterday, DiFelice, who served as the tournament judge, awarded the first-place title and a $120 prize to a team of bocce players that included a Towson University professor, a guitar instructor, a graphic artist with a form of dwarfism and a player in a wheelchair.

Dr. Steven E. Kopits, an orthopedic surgeon who was nationally recognized for his work with dwarfism, died yesterday of a brain tumor at Union Memorial Hospital. He was 65 and lived in Homeland. As founder and director of the International Center for Skeletal Dysplasia at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson, he was credited with surgeries that permitted his patients to walk and live on their own. Dr. Kopits was born in Budapest, Hungary, where his father and grandfather had been orthopedic surgeons.

Dr. John Phillips Dorst, an expert on dwarfism who headed pediatric radiology at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center, died Tuesday of a brain tumor at Brightwood Genesis Eldercare in Brooklandville. He was 74 and had lived in Columbia since 1972. A prolific researcher who studied genetic bone disorders, he was director of pediatric radiology at the Hopkins Children's Center from 1966 to 1990. While there, he taught medical students, residents and fellows how to read children's X-rays. He retired in 1995.

In 1958, an American scientist managed to do what nature had failed to. He made a dwarf grow. For the first time, mankind had harnessed human growth hormone. By 1963, while technically still an experimental drug, the hormone was being supplied free of charge by the National Institutes of Health to pediatricians across the United States. For the next 22 years, the drug was administered to more than 8,000 stunted children. It worked. The children grew. But then, decades after taking the hormone, a small but steady succession of recipients began to develop strange symptoms.

Biotechnology giant Genentech Inc. has agreed to pay $50 million to settle a criminal lawsuit which alleged that it marketed a human growth hormone for unapproved uses during the 1980s and early 1990s.The criminal fine and restitution is one of the largest settlements in U.S. drug industry history and ends a Department of Justice investigation that began in 1995."We chose to settle the matter in order to avoid the cost and distraction of protracted litigation," Genentech Chief Executive Officer Arthur Levinson said in a statement.

Dominic "Yama" DiFelice started playing bocce because at 25 cents a game, bowling was too expensive. The 86-year-old Philadelphia native became one of the world's best bocce players, with so many championship titles and awards that one year he gave one of his trophies to every player at Baltimore's annual Wheelchair/Stand-up Bocce Tournament. Yesterday, DiFelice, who served as the tournament judge, awarded the first-place title and a $120 prize to a team of bocce players that included a Towson University professor, a guitar instructor, a graphic artist with a form of dwarfism and a player in a wheelchair.

Dr. John Phillips Dorst, an expert on dwarfism who headed pediatric radiology at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center, died Tuesday of a brain tumor at Brightwood Genesis Eldercare in Brooklandville. He was 74 and had lived in Columbia since 1972. A prolific researcher who studied genetic bone disorders, he was director of pediatric radiology at the Hopkins Children's Center from 1966 to 1990. While there, he taught medical students, residents and fellows how to read children's X-rays. He retired in 1995.

TOM CUSH, 10, son of Thomas and Elizabeth Cush of Chartridge, won a gold medal and two silver medals in swimming competition at the Dwarf Athletic Association of America games this month in Los Angeles.The soccer team his father coaches won a silver medal at the games, part of the annual conference of the Little People of America (LPA).Tom's gold medal came in the butterfly races and his silver medals in freestyle and backstroke.The Cushes joined LPA shortly after Tom was born with achondroplasia, or dwarfism, in Alexandria Hospital in Virginia.

William Harold Eberhardt, 76, a percussionist who toured with George Gershwin and played marimba at Radio City Music Hall, died Saturday after falling three stories from his apartment balcony in Parkersburg, W. Va. Mr. Eberhardt, who also worked with Leonard Bernstein, was a percussionist for several long-running Broadway shows, including "The Innocents" and "The Boyfriend."John J. Wasmuth, 49, a biochemist who helped discover the genes that cause dwarfism and other diseases, died Friday in Irvine, Calif.